


i remember (our software was compatible)

by hanktalkin



Series: UN PL UG GE D [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Explosions, Other, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-04 14:29:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12773013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanktalkin/pseuds/hanktalkin
Summary: The newest members of Overwatch settle in. Some better than others.





	i remember (our software was compatible)

Placing her particle cannon on the dresser, Zarya turned to look around her new quarters. It was bare, undecorated, and probably wouldn’t be for some time; she hadn’t brought much with her in the way of personal effects, a habit born of both a military lifestyle and the past month couch-surfing in Lynx’s apartment. The closest thing to a memento was her gun, which Katya could pry from her cold, dead hands.

Sentimentality was the only reason it was up here now, even when Overwatch had provided her with a weapons locker that was particularly roomy. Gibraltar had been built to service hundreds of operatives, and the space and resources leftover from Overwatch’s heyday were more than sufficient for the few dozen members the organization had managed to attract. In her short time here, Zarya had already managed to get herself lost in the multitude of rooms that seemed to contain nothing but questions.

Running her hand over her gun one last time, Zarya left her room. She was grateful for any meeting if it meant she didn’t have to contemplate her bare walls for long.

She followed the small set of instructions sent to her personal tablet. Left here, second floor of this building, two doors past the server rooms. Despite being promptly on time, two heads turned as she entered, the “meeting” smaller than she imagined.

“Finally,” Soldier 76 grunted. “Let’s get started.”

Zarya was good at hiding her distaste of people who were supposed to be her superior officers. From their brief meeting when she’d arrived on base, the vigilante found every way to push her buttons, and she gathered from various sources that he was one of the people who had denied her recruitment in the first place.

“It is alright Soldier,” Mei said, the only other person in the room. “I told her to come a little later. I wanted the two of us to discuss some of the changes in Lucheng’s security before we started.”

She shot a brief smile at Zarya. It was good to see a friendly face, especially with Soldier already stamping on Zarya’s nerves. Why Overwatch had picked him up she couldn’t imagine; she’d heard stories about Soldier’s exploits while stationed in Siberia, and he sounded little more a wildcard with a grudge against Helix. The fact that he had climbed through Overwatch’s hierarchy so quickly was a testament to how desperately the organization needed leadership.

Soldier scoffed, and turned to a board behind him.

“As you might have heard, Lucheng Interstellar is planning a mission to retake the lost lunar colony,” he began, pulling up a picture of a steel skyscraper at night.

Zarya had heard no such thing, but it wasn’t in her nature to interrupt a briefing.

“They’ve reported unrest in the area for the past few months, and more protests as launch date gets closer and closer.” Soldier continued to flip through slides. “Chinese-omnic relations have historically been amicable, and it’s suspicious that only now are tensions are on the rise. Someone may be instigating this as a front for a more concrete sabotage of Lucheng’s mission.”

“And even if it isn’t,” Mei added, “we should get to the bottom of this and help where we can.”

“Shuttle leaves in twelve hours,” Soldier finished. “Get some rest.”

“We’re being deployed?” Zarya blurted, only to realize how obvious of a question that was. “I was not aware I would be taking on a mission so soon.”

“We’re short on hands,” Soldier said gruffly. “But if you think you’re not up to it _so soon_ , I’m sure we can find someone else.”

The mockery in his voice almost made Zarya bite back something just as stinging, but she held her tongue. “No. I will be ready.”

“You better be.” Soldier walked past, contempt following him like a fog.

“Don’t mind him,” Mei said immediately, coming to stand at Zarya’s side. “He is just a naturally cranky man.”

It took the last bits of Zarya’s professionalism to not point out that was an understatement. “It is…frustrating to mistrusted over something I am no longer a part of.”

Mei gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “It will be alright, Zaryanova. When it comes down to a firefight, he’ll have your back. And that’s what’s important, right?”

Maybe Mei was right, but that didn’t chase away the bitter taste in Zarya’s mouth that the meeting had brought.

* * *

“And here’s our communications array,” Winston said, finishing the tour of Gibraltar’s facilities. “If I’m being honest, this is the main reason we wanted you here. I was able to set it up but…my expertise lies in electrical engineering and theoretical physics.”

“You say that like those go together like margaritas and sunny days,” Lynx joked, tilting their head at the scientist. “That’s quite an impressive range of skills.”

Winston coughed into his fist, embarrassed and slightly flattered. Lynx got the impression he didn’t interact with people much.

“Well…thank you.” Winston cleared his throat. “But it doesn’t quite cut it for system design. So. Do you think you’d be up to it?”

Lynx could already see thirty-seven ways to significantly reduce retransmission, but thought better than to say that aloud. “I think I would be.” They looked around Gibraltar’s science facilities, a place that looked well lived-in thanks to one squatting gorilla. A tire swing hung from the ceiling, and various calculations ran the length of the outdated chalkboards on the walls. “Is it just you and I here or-?”

“Winston!” a feminine voice called from the top of the stairs. “I have something else I’d like to try.”

The two turned to see a blonde woman in a lab coat come down to the first level, causing her to stop when she noticed Lynx.

“Oh,” she said, startled. Then she repeated, “oh! You must be Lynx Seventeen. I completely forgot you and your friend were arriving today. I am Dr. Zeigler, pleased to meet you.” She extended a hand, which Lynx graciously took.

“Mercy is in here often too,” Winston explained. “Ever since she and Pharah brought back this artifact we liberated from Talon, she’s been obsessed with it.” He indicated a solid metal orb sitting on one the various display tables.

“I have not been _obsessed_ ,” Mercy said indignantly. She turned to Lynx. “Honestly, I’m barely in here. You’ll truthfully be seeing more of Lena than of me.”

“Lena…” Lynx mused. “That name rings a bell.”

“You’d probably remember her better if I called her Tracer,” Mercy laughed. “Our glorious poster child.”

“ _The_ Tracer? Well that’s wonderful that you’ve brought her back in,” Lynx said, joining Mercy’s laughter. “I’ll be sure to get her autograph when I see her.”

“Go right ahead. She certainly loves being reminded she’s a hero.” Mercy raised an eyebrow. “I assume you’re here to work with the watchpoint’s systems?”

Lynx nodded. “Certainly. And, if Overwatch is interested, I have other skills in hacking and related security.”

Mercy and Winston shared an awkward look. The doctor shifted on her feet before saying, “in…the old Overwatch, matters of espionage were usually left to Blackwatch.”

“You don’t currently have the resources to create a whole separate division for covert operations,” Lynx pointed out. “I’d merely do a some reconnaissance on potential threats to the organization.”

“Lynx,” Winston began hesitantly. “What we’re doing here isn’t exactly legal by any means, but espionage is something that might attract some…unwanted attention.”

Lynx wanted to press the issue further, to point out that their skills were far beyond simple system maintenance, but then remembered they were not here for themself. They put up their hands in a symbol of surrender. “I see I’ve made you uncomfortable. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to keep my activities here to minimal noteworthiness.”

The relief was immediately apparent in their new coworkers, and they wondered how much was actual fear of being discovered and how much was just distaste for Lynx’s profession.

“So,” Mercy began, obviously eager to change the subject, “as long as we’re doing introductions, I’d love to meet your friend.”

Lynx was just beginning to say it’d be their pleasure when Winston interrupted.

“Actually, her team left about an hour ago for that Lijiang mission.”

“What?” Lynx asked, antennae twitching. “They’re sending her on a mission already?”

Winston nodded. “Mei and Soldier were waiting on a third for it, and no one else could be pulled away.” He shifted, perhaps uncomfortable under Lynx’s apparent surprise. “Did…she not tell you?”

“We have not seen each other since arriving,” Lynx replied shrewdly, not actually answering the question. “I’m sure she’s been very busy.”

In fact, it would be shocking if Zarya _had_ told Lynx anything, especially if she thought they didn’t need to know. She was infuriatingly mum even when there _were_ things Lynx needed to know. So then why did the idea of her leaving without saying goodbye throw them so off guard?

“Thank you very much for the tour,” Lynx said, in what they hoped was a cheerful tone. “But I’d like to begin working on the communications array. There’s so much to do.”

The scientist and the doctor left them alone, as requested. But, even without the distraction, they found it frustratingly hard to concentrate when thoughts of a pink haired woman kept crossing their mind.

* * *

The night market bustled, the trio blending as they made their way through the twenty-four hour shopping district. There was no shortage of those with physical augmentations in a place like this, and the only thing that might make them stand out was the fact they were heavily armed. Well, Soldier and Zarya were. Mei’s weapon was…less obvious.

The climatologist had explained it to Zarya as their shuttle took them halfway around the world; how it had been based on a prototype she made while trapped at one of Overwatch’s ecopoints.

“Your story is fascinating,” Zarya had said, leaning against one of the stable cots. “It is straight out of a fairy tale.”

“What do you mean?” Mei asked, strapping her tank again now that she was done showing Zarya.

“A beautiful princess falls asleep, and no one can awaken her for a hundred years.” Zarya cocked her head. “Fitting.”

She could have sworn she saw Mei blush. “Well, substitute true love’s kiss for Winston’s message, and we’re pretty gosh darn close.”

Now, they moved through the streets, the princess followed by a knight and an avenger. There were humans and omnics alike in the market, and although they didn’t mingle quite so much as her temporary home, it still reminded her of Numbani.

“Perhaps the reason the robots are in revolt is because it is their natural state when faced with the problem of humanity,” Zarya muttered, mostly to herself.

To her surprise, Mei’s eyes went wide as she glanced over shoulder. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Zarya shrugged. “When they are kept separated, we are not so present in their minds that they remember we must be eliminated.” It seemed like such an obvious thing to her, that this forced mingling of peoples would only lead to discord. It happened all over the world, worst where society became tolerant of the robots continued existence. Russia’s way was bloody, but it certainly was the right way, even after all Zarya had learned.

Soldier and Mei exchanged a look. Or at least, she thought it was a look, the way Soldier’s visor obscured him making it hard to tell. “I take it you’re not a fan of omnics,” the vigilante said with half a snort.

“Of course not. I am Russian.” She looked between her two squadmates. Neither of their nations had seen the crisis the way Zarya’s motherland had; it was not unsurprising they could not see the truth as she could.

“But…” Mei stuttered. “You’re friends with Lynx.”

“We are not friends,” Zarya said reflexively. She shied suddenly from her own words, realizing she was only making the situation more confused. She clarified, “we are…allies. We trust each other to work together, but certainly not enough to be friends.” She also realized being friends with an omnic was impossible, but chose not to say it aloud.

They were stopped in the middle of the market now, people flowing around their squadron. Both Mei and Soldier looked decidedly uncomfortable.

“Well,” Soldier 76 said at last, “this mission keeps getting better and better.” He continued on their path, and the two women followed unenthusiastically at his heel.

* * *

Lijiang mellowed with day and then spilled into the next night, no culprits arising no matter who they shook down. Lucheng had been no help, their list of possible business rivals being implausible and also mostly unreachable. That only left here, a garden on the outskirts of Lijiang, where there last lead had supposedly burrowed.

“Tsai’s here somewhere,” Soldier said, eyeing the apartments as they crossed the bridge.

Tsai Su had been arrested three months ago for threatening members from several divisions of Lucheng. Recently out on bail, she was the only suspect they had at the moment.

“And if she is not here?” Zarya asked Soldier’s back.

It was Mei who answered. “Then we have to assume that it not the work out outside forces causing the unrest. If that is the case, then we should simply guard Lucheng, perhaps talk to leaders of the protests to get to the root of the problem.”

The idea caused Zarya’s lip to curl. “Why not leave, if there is no foul play?”

“Overwatch is a peace keeping force, first and foremost,” Mei said firmly. “So, we keep the peace.”

Her tone told that was the end of the discussion. Ever since the market she’d been remarkably cold to Zarya, a stark contrast to their precious interactions. Zarya couldn’t help but think it had something to do with her little speech yesterday.

Even if she wanted to better explain herself, their present conversation was cut short when Soldier held up his hand.

“…Do you hear that?” he said.

Zarya strained her ears. If she concentrated she could hear a faint beeping…

“BOMB!” she shouted, the warning coming only a second before the bridge exploded underneath them. The three rushed forward, landing on the other side just as the remains of the bridged crashed into the water below.

“From the other side!” Soldier shouted, pointing across the garden. “Three o’clock!”

Tsai stood on the opposite bridge, plasma rifle in one hand and a detonator in the other. Even at this distance, Zarya could see something wild and untamed in her eyes, a mania she had worn throughout her mug shots as well. It was much more terrifying now that it was in 3D and it’s owner was raising her rifle at them

“Duck and cover people!” Soldier was already pushing himself off his stomach, sprinting faster than anyone his age should have been able to.

Mei was slower, but got up just in time to shoot an ice wall from her blaster and block most of Tsai’s shots. “Run!” she yelled.

Zarya didn’t need to be told twice. They charged off after Soldier, making it to a small shed right on the edge of the roof. Just beyond the wall, she could hear Tsai screaming something in Chinese.

The wall crumbled as they got to the cover of the structure. Tsai seemed to take no heed of her own safety as she stood openly on the bridge while she held up her detonator. The only thing that made her move was when Soldier took a pot shot at her, finally forcing her toward the garden’s central tower.

“Athena, where’d she go?” Soldier demanded into his comm. “I need eyes!”

The reprieve was short lived when Zarya heard more beeping. “Get behind me!” she roared, spinning around and facing the bomb just in time.

Explosive energy fizzled off the barrier, swarming around her in a cocoon. She closed her eyes against the white blast that came from the doorway, feeling energy draw into the batteries on her back. When she opened them again, the way the squad had come was oliterated.

“This whole place is a trap!” Zarya snarled.

“Athena! Where is she?!” Soldier demanded again.

Athena’s voice rang in all of their ears. “I am sorry Soldier: 76. I am attempting to access apartment security. This may take several minutes.”

“We don’t have time for-” Zarya began.

She was abruptly cut off as the central tower began to shake.

* * *

Lynx idly removed a panel on one of Overwatch’s satellites, one of Winston’s designs that would hopefully make Gibraltar’s less susceptible to hardware failure. The first one had been sloppy, put together in Winston’s hasty attempt to reunify the organization, and was unsustainable by his own admission. This one was meant to work in tandem with the satellite already in orbit and increase its longevity, but Lynx had found so many flaws in the supposed upgrade that they—to borrow a human expression—were ready to tear their hair out.

Attaching a module of their own design, they poked the wires back into place and screwed in the panel. There, that should help with that terrible excuse for error detection. If they were being honest, Lynx would love to just green field it, but they knew that would waste time and also possibly hurt Winston’s feelings.

Lynx jumped down off the satellite, landing near the communication systems they always seemed to get sidetracked with. They were just reaching for a grease rag when a voice blared through the speakers.

“ _We need immediate help, pinned down, unknown number explosives, we are at 63 Renmin Lu, Lijiang, need immediate eyes on_ -”

But Lynx’s mind was already whirling as they recognized the voice.

_Zarya._

They rushed forward, skittering to a stop in front of the comms, fingers flying as they tried to locate the signal. It was immediately apparent why they were hearing it in the first place; the squad was accessing Athena’s emergency channel, and now the AI was broadcasting it to whoever was able to help.

Smashing a final command, Lynx brought up the Lijiang squad’s location. A roof’s bird’s eye view, security cameras, easily accessible if- but they weren’t supposed to be hacking anything unnecessarily-

A shout from Zarya wiped away all hesitation. She screamed, presumably to the others, that the tower was coming down, and to take cover.

Lynx opened a two-way channel. “Zaryanova.” Words and actions came easily, the ability to multitask effortless for an omnic, and they were already almost into security.

“Lynx?” It was odd to be called by their name, so used to being referred to as ‘robot.’ Zarya must truly be under a lot of stress.

“Expecting someone else?” Lynx still found it in them to joke. But then the moment was gone, fading as they hear the sound of crashing over the line. “Give me a rundown of the situation.”

Zarya didn’t hesitate. She was a soldier after all. “We pursued a suspect to rooftop garden, she’s set the place with various explosives. We are now in pursuit. She is armed and dangerous.”

Lynx had found the files, presumably what Soldier had entered, and the room flashed as they gained access to the apartment complex’s security. A dozen different images, different angles, processing before their eyes as they began a plan. As an extra measure, they also accessed the camera in Soldier’s visor, and a larger than life image of Zarya appeared before them.

She looked hardened. It was the expression she wore before they entered Sombra’s lair— when she was focused on her goal and wouldn’t let anything stand in her way—but also tinged with a hint of worry Lynx might have missed if they hadn’t been living with her for a month. The stress wasn’t getting to her, but she was in danger and she knew it.

Something stirred in Lynx’s chest. Not literally of course, but all of a sudden they knew there was no way they would let her fall here.

The last of the supports on the central tower exploded in smoke, and Lynx could see Tsai standing out of sight of the three pinned down agents. They tightened their fists on the edge of the console.

“Go right! Now!”

* * *

When Lynx’s voice had first sparked in Zarya’s ear, it was like a claw tearing through a thin haze of cloud and illuminating the world before her. It was the sheer absurdity of it, this voice that was so out of place it shocked her back into reality.

It was only the lingering surprise that caused her to hesitate, but then she barked, “you heard the robot! Move!”

The creak of wood followed them as they charged across the still remaining bridge. With a crash, the tower slammed behind them, destroying the building they’d been in only seconds before.

Already, more instructions poured in through her ear. “She’s across the pond, it looks like she’s arming another one.”

Zarya thought she spotted movement, something vaguely human shaped. “This way!”

Mei and Soldier followed her again, thankfully on the same page of Lynx’s messages. The squad stormed the apartments, following Tsai’s illusive trail. The corridors twisted and turned, and she swore she saw the edges of a coat tail-

There! Heading for the back doors.

Before she could set foot outside once again, Lynx said in her ear, “upstairs. Now. Leave the doors for the other two.”

“But…” she began. She had just _seen_ Tsai, a second ago, if she diverged now-

“Zaryanova,” Lynx said, their voice calm despite the ringing as the garden exploded around her. “Trust me.”

She sucked in air, the familiar leather of her armor holding tight to her chest, locking her lungs inside. She exhaled, and nodded.

“Keep going,” she told her squad. “I’ll catch up.”

With that she was gone, up the stairs and following Lynx’s hurried instructions. She didn’t know how they were doing this; there certainly couldn’t be _that_ many cameras, and yet if felt like the omnic was with her every step of the way. She arrived at the second floor of one the apartments, and balked. There was Tsai, looking as surprised to see Zarya as Zarya was to see her.

She didn’t know how Tsai had gotten up here, and didn’t get the chance to ask. Tsai spun around, looking to hop to the next roof, and Zarya decided it was to stop this madwoman in her tracks.

“Огонь по готовности!” she shouted, launching graviton surge at the wall between the gap.

Tsai screamed, caught in the swirl of purple, frozen midair as she kicked out widely. It held her just in time for Mei and Soldier to arrive, and the scientist wasted no in raising her blaster. A shard of ice imbedded itself in Tsai’s forearm, pinning it to the wall behind her and causing Tsai to scream harder. She dropped the detonator.

With a roll forward, Soldier caught it, and graviton dissipated.

Tsai wailed pitifully, now hanging to the wall by only her arm. The pain was enough for her to loosen her other hand, allowing Zarya to lean over the edge and pull her weapon from her grasp.

“Well,” Soldier said, tossing the detonator up and catching it. “That was certainly dramatic.”

“Says mister tuck and roll,” Zarya spat.

“Hey. It got the job done.”

Zarya decided she really didn’t like him. Tsai groaned.

Reaching over, Zarya ripped the shard from Tsai’s arm, grabbing the defeated woman like a sack of potatoes. She leaped to the ground, captive over her shoulder and looking between her partners.

“What now?” Zarya said, cocking her head at unconscious Tsai, who apparently had a very weak threshold for pain.

“Now,” Mei said, cleaning off her glasses, “it appears we have a lead.”

* * *

They arrived back at Gibraltar, Tsai in tow. In a legal sense, they had technically kidnapped her, since the PAP and Lucheng would both want her if they knew what she’d done. But Overwatch needed her more, especially since they believed this conspiracy went a lot deeper than just one woman.

Once their prisoner was safely secured and the briefing over, Zarya went wandering around the watchpoint, aimlessly looking inside rooms and finding most empty. She didn’t know what she was looking for until she discovered Lynx working on what looked to be a gigantic battery.

At the sound of her footsteps, they perked their ears, setting down their tools as they turned around. “Zaryanova. I thought you might be stopping by.”

“Really? I didn’t.” But the words didn’t come out with their usual sting. She blamed the lack of oomph on jet lag.

Lynx didn’t seem to notice. When she said nothing more, they went back to work, fiddling with what could only be another one of their assorted gadgets. Zarya, for her part, watched them work, casting her eyes about the room in various locations.

That was one good thing about the omnic: they didn’t talk unnecessarily. Even when the two had been on the hunt for Sombra she’d noticed it, how most of their conversations had been brief and direct, that the silence between them was never awkward. Hostile, yes. Sometimes. But other times it was just quiet, like she felt she could just be still every once and a while and no one would try to poke her into meaningless small talk.

Maybe it wasn’t in an omnic’s social code for rapport. Or…maybe Lynx shared her need to recharge every now and again.

“Thank you,” she said unexpectedly, surprising everyone including herself. When Lynx looked up, she felt the need to clarify, “for saving our lives.”

“Of course,” they said, setting down their tools once again. “I had the means to do so and, as you might imagine, it’s now part of my job.”

Zarya nodded, not knowing what she had been expecting. Perhaps an acknowledgement that she’d once done the same for them, but that suddenly seemed very conceited.

“I must know,” she said, still, for some reason, talking. “When we were running, how did you know the inside of all those buildings? There were no cameras there.”

“I was able to locate a floor plan of the building, archived in its construction files.”

They tilted her head, and Zarya couldn’t help but be impressed. She remembered how fast they’d sorted through those cameras on Numbani, doing what an entire police force might do in a day. Now she could add this to the growing proof of the hacker’s skills. Underestimation after underestimation.

“It wasn’t easy, but I thought it would be useful. And it was. I imagined what I would do if I had a large supply of explosives, and realized where she was luring you. The second story was the best workaround.” They twiddled their optical screwdriver in their hand, an odd tell. Pausing, they looked directly at Zarya when they said, “thank you for trusting me.”

Zarya opened her mouth, but didn’t know what to say. Sure she had let the omnic direct her to the safest route, but didn’t mean she _trusted_ in the present and ongoing tense.

Lynx misinterpreted. They thought this somehow made them friends, but it’s not like that could happen without Zarya knowing, right?

“I am…” she began.

Right?

“You are a good partner,” she blurted. She didn’t wait to see Lynx look taken aback. “It was good that you helped us on our mission. I understand that Overwatch has requested your services in technical support but…I think you would be invaluable as a dispatcher.”

One of Lynx’s ears cocked to the side. Zarya wasn’t any good at reading omnic expressions but were they…amused?

“And is the squad asking? Or just you?”

Zarya took a steadying breath. “Just me.” She put forward her hand. “You are good at what you do, omnic. I have come to respect that. Respect it enough to admit I have mistrusted you.”

Even those words and an extended hand made Zarya’s insides cringe. This was practically treason, what she had judged Katya so hard for in the beginning. And yet…even if she knew it to be wrong, denying the fact that she now placed her confidence in an omnic would do her no good.

Lynx gave an audible laugh. They took her hand and said, “well then. I’ll consider this a small victory.”

Zarya’s face immediately darkened. “You’re not keeping score between us now, are you omnic?”

“No. Unless you consider us both earning points.” They chuckled again. “One victory came when you saved me from Sombra. Another when you contacted me at my home. Now again, I feel as though a small battle has been won. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Zarya withdrew her hand, her face forcefully neutral. “If I didn’t know any better robot, I would say you were trying to get me to like you.”

She could have sworn the peace lights were twinkling at her. “Why Zaryanova. You _are_ observant, aren’t you?”


End file.
